The Huskers set a school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay on Thursday

Photo Courtesy BreAnna Haessler/NU Media Relations

Courtesy: NU Media Relations

02/21/2013

Minneapolis, Minn. - The Nebraska swimming and diving
team completed its first full day of competition at the Big Ten Championships on
Thursday evening at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The Huskers had
three individual swimmers, four divers, and the 200-yard freestyle relay team competing
in final rounds during the meet's third session.

The
200-yard freestyle relay team of Hayley Martin, Taryn Collura, Shannon Guy, and
Ariel Weech got the Huskers off to a fast start, breaking another school record
and finishing in fifth place with a time of 1:30.11. Their time bested the
previous record of 1:31.06 set in 1998 by Helene Muller, Beth Karaica, Anna
Windsor and Therese Alshammar.

In
the evening's first individual event, Bailey Pons finished fourth in the C
Final of the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.18. Pons finished 20th
overall in the event, 17 places higher than her finish at last season's Big Ten
Championships.

Taryn
Collura and Ariel Weech, the other two Husker swimmers who qualified for
Thursday evening finals, finished sixth and 12th, respectively, in the 50-yard
freestyle. Collura's sixth place finish was the highest ever by a Husker
individual at the Big Ten Championships.

The
evening's final event saw Amy Herman compete in the finals of the one-meter
diving competition. Her score of 291.60 earned her a 15th place
finish in the event. The senior finished 31st in the one-meter dive at
last season's Big Ten Championships.

Following
the one-meter dive, Nebraska's 200-yard freestyle relay team unsuccessfully attempted
to earn an NCAA A Cut by participating in a time trial. Their finals time of 1:30.11,
which had earned them an NCAA B Cut, had been just 31 hundredths of a second
off the cut of 1:29.80.

Head Coach Pablo Morales commented on the success his team had in
both the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday.

"It's
great that we're getting up there and competing against the top of the
conference," Morales said. "It's a tribute to what the sprinters have done this
year and to the work that Pat (Rowan) has done with them. The fact that Taryn
(Collura) was our first individual finalist in the Big Ten was a great
accomplishment and a great way to conclude our second day here."

The
Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships will resume on Friday morning at 11
a.m. The session will feature the preliminary rounds of the 400-yard IM,
100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, and 100-yard
backstroke. Check back in to Huskers.com and follow @HuskerSwim on Twitter for
updates.